Successful people spend little time complaining about what they don’t have but focus their time and energy using what they do have. It is easy to focus on the negative – it is productive to use our resources that we do have.

Sue Kent will act as an official masseuse for the British Paralympics team. She has no arms, but will use her feet to sooth the aching muscles of tired athletes.

Sue Kent was born without arms. Her mother took thalidomide while she was pregnant, and caused Sue to be handicapped.

Sue doesn’t complain about having no arms, she just uses her feet. Patients at her clinic lie on the floor while Kent works on their muscles from a bench above. She has been trained as a sports therapist. At this summer’s games in London, Paralympics athletes will be well cared for by Sue. She doesn’t have arms, so she uses what she has – her feet.

A young man I admire here in Montgomery is Phillip Meadows. I met him at the old Montgomery Athletic Club. Phil is in a wheelchair. He doesn’t have any use of his legs. Because he cares for himself his upper body is well developed.

There was a contest in the city of Montgomery to determine who could bench press the most weight. In order to make it competitive, the amount of weight that you lifted would be adjusted by a formula involving your actual weight. Therefore a huge person, who might be able to actually bench press more weight, could be challenged by a person much lighter in body weight. It was a good handicap system.

I was interested because there were so many big athletes who participated. One was Mike Kolen, All Pro Linebacker for the Miami Dolphins. They usually had to bring in extra weights for him when he bench pressed. There were others like him.

Phillip entered the contest. Guess who won – Phillip Meadows. You see he didn’t have much body weight because he was paralyzed below the waist. He was extremely strong in his upper body. When the formula was applied to the amount of weight he bench pressed, he won!

Read about Gideon (Judges 7:1-24). God reduced his army to a small number in order to teach Gideon what he could do if he didn’t complain about what he didn’t have and obeyed God in using what he did have.

Think today about what God has given you. How will you use it? Don’t compare yourself to other people – measure yourself against the possibilities that God has for you. Don’t focus on the lack of some capability you don’t have, but focus on the power of God to take what you do have and use it for His purpose.

Utilizing available resources will defeat excuses of inadequacy every time!